I will always stand up against people who say that Viv is racist

Mr Young, who represents hackney drivers and has a share in City Wide Taxis, is also being investigated by the local authority after the messages were exposed.

A statement from Hampshire Constabulary said: ‘We can confirm a report was made to police on Monday relating to concerns over an individual’s Facebook posts.

‘This report is being investigated.’

The council has the power to strip Mr Young of his own taxi licence if it decides Mr Young is not ‘fit and proper’ to hold one.

Mr Young has said he doesn’t know whether he posted the messages – including one referring to Muslims as ‘nonces’ – or they were written by someone who had hacked his account.

Perry McMillan, of the Unite union taxi branch, based in Southampton, says he will defend Mr Young should he be hauled before a council committee.

‘I will always stand up against people who say that Viv is racist,’ said Mr McMillan. ‘I don’t see him as a racist and I will stand by him. He has got a heart of gold and just wants to work hard for the taxi trade.’

One of the Facebook posts being investigated read: ‘I was driving me cab today and picked up a tribe of, shall we say (not typically English coloured people).

‘I was wondering by having them in my cab, am I leaving myself open to catch malaria, cholera, dengi fever, and of course tics.’

And a picture of a bowl of dog food was captioned ‘Islamic Xmas Dinner’.